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May 6, 2020

Slow Cooker Stuffed Shells

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Slow Cooker Stuffed Shells—jumbo pasta shells are stuffed with a beefy cheesy mixture and smothered in marinara sauce.

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Related: INSTANT POT stuffed shells recipe

stuffed pasta shells on a plate with red sauce and mozzarella cheese

Slow Cooker Stuffed Shells

These stuffed shells have great flavor! My son ate and ate and ate them until he couldn’t eat anymore. Many stuffed shells recipes use cheese and spinach. I decided to stuff them with a ground beef and cheese mixture. They had amazing flavor!

I stuffed the pasta shells without boiling them first. It was a little bit difficult but I like to take kitchen shortcuts when I can and not getting out a pot of boiling water was worth any effort it took to stuff the hard pasta shells.

This recipe makes a lot of shells and can feed about 8 people. If you’re serving a smaller group then I would suggest halving the recipe. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator.

These shells are the bomb diggity. They are my kids new favorite food! Try them out soon.

What should I serve with Slow Cooker Stuffed Shells?

I’m a fan of a plain green salad with the olive garden salad dressing. You could also serve with garlic bread or garlic knots to sop up of some of the marinara sauce.

More Recipes You’ll Love…

Slow Cooker Tortellini Lasagna

Slow Cooker Lasagna Ravioli

Slow Cooker Chicken Chili Mac

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stuffed pasta shells on a plate with red sauce and mozzarella cheese
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Slow Cooker Stuffed Shells


  • Author: 365 Days of Slow and Pressure Cooking
  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Cook Time: 4 hours
  • Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x
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Description

Jumbo pasta shells are stuffed with a beefy cheesy mixture and smothered in marinara sauce.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 pound lean ground beef
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 cups cottage or ricotta cheese
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  • 1 (12 oz) box jumbo pasta shells (has about 42 shells in it)
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 (26 oz jar or can) marinara sauce

Instructions

  1. In a pan over medium high heat brown the ground beef for about 5 minutes. Add in the salt, garlic powder, pepper, basil, onion powder, parsley and oregano. Stir. 
  2. Add cottage/ricotta cheese, egg, mozzarella and parmesan into the bowl with the meat. Stir to combine. 
  3. Use your fingers to stuff the meat mixture into the pasta shells. Some shells will be easier to stuff than others. 
  4. Place each of the shells into the bottom of your slow cooker. Pour 2 cups water over the shells and then pour the marinara sauce over the top evenly.
  5. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, or until pasta is tender. Serve and enjoy!
  • Category: Pasta
  • Method: Slow Cooker

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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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9 Comments Filed Under: All Recipes, Beef, Pasta, Slow Cooker

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Comments

  1. Holly says

    January 9, 2021 at 9:44 pm

    Hey can I just put the meat in the sauce?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      January 11, 2021 at 7:05 pm

      yes you can!

      Reply
  2. Molly says

    October 21, 2020 at 6:04 pm

    I made this tonight as written and the shells turned to mush and it was practically inedible. The flavor of the filling was good, but the texture was so bad we couldn’t finish it and had to throw the rest out. I would do this in 1/2 the time allotted in the slow cooker next time if I wanted to do it again, but honestly I was so put off by this we’ll probably just stick to making them the traditional way.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      October 21, 2020 at 7:32 pm

      Sorry for your bad results. Each slow cooker cooks differently and some cook so hot. I would suggest cutting cooking times down if you use that slow cooker again.

      Reply
  3. misty says

    May 12, 2020 at 10:59 pm

    that sound very good

    Reply
  4. Susan says

    May 10, 2020 at 4:18 pm

    What is the water for? Wouldn’t the sauce cook the pasta without the water? I’ve never tried pasta in my slow cooker before and can’t wait to try.

    Reply
    • Karen says

      May 11, 2020 at 2:41 pm

      Since the pasta is uncooked I used the water to cook the shells. Hope you like it!

      Reply
  5. maureen says

    May 7, 2020 at 11:38 am

    If you are a lazy cook can you just substitute the same amount of pasta like macaroni and just stir it together instead of stuffing a shell?

    Reply
    • Karen says

      May 7, 2020 at 12:16 pm

      Oh for sure! That’s a good idea 🙂

      Reply

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Hi, I’m Karen. I know that dinner time can be less than relaxing. Busy schedules and cranky kids and a hundred other things can lead to weariness when it comes to putting dinner on the table. I can help! I make homemade, family-friendly slow cooker and Instant Pot dinners and share the recipes with you.

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